The Cult Visit

Possum Lodge is visited by a strange cult from the planet Gorgon.

Cast (in order of appearance):, , , , ,

DVD: The Red Green Show – 1998 Season

Watch the episode on YouTube

Segment Summary
See also: Transcript

Plot: Red says that the lodge has been court-ordered to clean up the area or it will be shut down. Red also learns that a cult from another planet has seen the lodge and thought it looked like a sacred place. He says they all wear striped robes and that they're from another planet, so he sends Harold to talk to them. Harold then shows up in nothing but a striped robe. He explains that he is infiltrating them and learns that the cult is from the planet Gorgon. They are waiting for the mothership to pick them up and that Red is all-knowing and all-powerful and, as such, are calling him the Grand Master. Red is so impressed that he tries to get the Gorgonites to help clean up the area to use as a launchpad for the mothership. Red thinks that Harold, wearing the robe, should be out helping the Gorgonites clean up. Soon, the area is entirely spotless. Red had told the Gorgonites that the mothership had crashed there and those were the pieces that they needed to reassemble in order to leave. Soon, the spaceship, built out of a '54 Buick with a washer and dryer duct-taped to the sides, is completed and the cult takes off to return to Gorgon.

Opening Scene: Red uses cooking spray to remove stuck animal gunk from the grill of his van.

The Possum Lodge Word Game: Arnie tries to guess the word "friend" to win an ant farm.

Red's Campfire Songs: The tortoise and the hare.

Handyman Corner: Red turns a car into a riding mower.

Midlife: Why letting yourself go is not so bad.

New Member Night: Edgar brings in a new member, whom he refers to only as Stan, whose house he had accidentally blown up, and whom he has offered to let join up in exchange for dropping charges against him.

Adventures With Bill: Red and Bill play an aggressive game of street hockey.

The Experts: Hap suggests to get in shape by taking up motorcycle jumping, as he used to do when he was a motorcycle stuntman at Caesar's Palace, long before Evel Knievel.

Remarks

 * In Adventures With Bill, Bill crashes into the back of the Possum Van before being launched downhill, but it is at least implied that the Possum Van is facing downhill when Red starts after him.
 * Red's remark toward the end of the episode about cult followers dressing the same is ironic, considering that he and Harold are also dressed identically to one another.

Inside References

 * Mike Hamar had to say the word "friend" as part of the Word Game in Father and Son Banquet. Unlike Mike, however, Arnie succeeds in saying the word.

Real World References

 * Dilithium crystals are the primary power source of the starships in the Star Trek universe.
 * In Handyman Corner, the knives Red refers to are Ginsu knives.
 * In The Experts, Hap's entire story about his aborted motorcycle jump is a reference to daredevil Evel Knievel's famous attempt to jump over the fountain at Caesars Palace (a famous Las Vegas hotel and casino) in 1967. Knievel failed the jump due to trouble with his motorcycle. Knievel also was unable to get any major television networks to cover his jump, but was told that if he could get someone to record a successful attempt, they would air the recording.
 * The campfire song is about the fable The Tortoise and the Hare.
 * “It’s good to be the king” is a reference to Mel Brooks’ “History of the world, part one”.

Famous People

 * At the start of the episode, Red refers to Greenpeace, a famous environmental organization.

Fast Forward

 * Red would again make a riding mower as his Handyman Corner project in Y2 Cans.
 * Mike Hamar would attempt a very similar motorcycle jump in the episode Daredevil.